THE PULSE & PRIDE AWARD – LOV’s top honor for volunteerism and awarded not only for outstanding hours of service, but for invaluable work provided in assisting LOV in its mission to the community was presented to Annette Chiapuzio who gave 1,430 hours of service in 2006.
Annette is at LOV every day and she works on practically everything. She is one of our receptionists, a data entry person, is in charge of our bulk mailing crew, helps stock our food pantry, works with Adopt-a-Family checking in donations and putting together food baskets. She helps with the kids carnival, trains & supervises our General Assistance volunteers, helps at Thanksgiving, worked at New Park Mall with kids crafts during the summer, and much more. She will be moving shortly to Georgia – and we all are going to miss her as she has become a very valuable volunteer for LOV’s programs.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE was presented to:
Shirley McIntyre with179.50 hours of service last year. She volunteers at our bingos and we can always count on her to help with mailing, folding and tabbing. Shirley has volunteered at our Summer Recreation program working with the children on arts & crafts as well as helping with Toys 4 Tots. She loves to tell stories and jokes, and keeps all of her fellow volunteers laughing.
Dorrie Connell donated 155.75 hours of service last year. She has been a volunteer since 2005. Dorrie is also a member of our mini office crew, helping with bulk mailings as well as Toys 4 Tots. We know we can always count on her which something needs to be done.
Tina Gomes is a bingo volunteer with a total of 146 hours in 2006. She goes out of her way every Saturday to pick up a senior who doesn’t have a ride so that she can come to bingo. You also see Tina in our fireworks booth helping to sell and raise funds for our summer programs.
Andrew Draeseke is a volunteer we absolutely cannot do without at LOV. He has come to our rescue so many times. Andrew is a computer expert who keeps our very old equipment up and running, trouble shooting our problems and even though this is the way he earns a living, he donates his services to LOV. There is no way we can measure the countless hours Andrew has spent this last year and we really appreciate all his support.
The final Board of Directors award given for 2006 is not to an individual, but a group that has been a wonderful LOV supporter for 8 years. It’s hard to say how many hours these young people have donated to LOV’s programs. They hold annual food drives, getting the whole school involved at Halloween & Spirit Week. However they don’t stop there – they continue to collect food for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since these food drives started – we estimate they have given LOV more than 80,000 items for those in need. They also are some of our table and beverage servers at An Elegant Affaire, assist with the games at our Spring Break Carnival, and come in after school to help in the office or with mailings. They collect Toys 4 Tots and adopt a family. The LOV Board was so happy to honor the Interact Club and Leadership Class of Washington High School.
LOV BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESENTS YOUTH AWARD TO TOMMY JARIQUE. This award is not given every year – however Tommy’s accomplishments warranted special recognition. When he arrived at LOV last year, he had mandated hours. We could see that this young man had some very good qualities and was eager to get involved in LOV’s activities. Tommy did much more than his hourly requirement – providing 117 hours over and above that which was required. In these extra hours he worked with LOV’s free Spring Break Carnival helping set up and as a supervisor assisting other teen volunteers working the games – the prize room and the jumper. He became a mentor to our teens in the Y.E.S! – Youth Encouraged to Serve teen club. He helped with concert set up, answered phones in the office, worked with the bulk mailings, stocked the food pantry and assisted in making up food baskets during the holiday. Tommy has matured by leaps and bounds justifying our faith in him when he first arrived. Tommy’s case was dismissed and he is now working at NUMMI and came by recently to show us the car he was able to purchase. We couldn’t be more proud! If LOV experiences only 1 story like Tommy’s a year – it’s the reason we all work to keep our programs going for the community.
VOLUNTEERS ARE OUR HIDDEN TREASURES
This was the theme of LOV’s annual Volunteer/Donor Recognition Night held in April. In 2006 a total of 508 volunteers of all ages gave of their time and talent to those in need in the Tri Cities. With commitment, concern and dedication to making a difference in the community – they provided a total of 26,186 hours of service, not only in LOV’s sponsored programs, but to other’s needs through LOV’s volunteer placement service offered to local organizations.
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